Are you ready for 2015? I for one have officially made my New Year’s resolution. (I know, I know… I’m a few days early. But my resolution for 2014 was “don’t procrastinate.” It’s not too late to achieve that goal, is it?) For 2015, I’m resolving to do something that I know I can achieve: I resolve to make certain you’re aware of great freebies and contests that will make your job easier—starting right now!

Submit a comment to the blog by
11:59 pm EST Sunday, January 11, 2015, to tell me which of the freebies below are your favorites. One lucky teacher will win all three of these winter-themed books about friendship! In Mimi and Bear in the Snow, Mimi begins a search after Bear disappears in the snow. Penguin in Love knits together a story of two penguins that find each other while unraveling a missing-yarn mystery. Then, in Polar Bear Morning, a polar bear cub and a little snow cub make the story of a first friendship as satisfying as a warm hug. (Update: congratulations to Kaila, who is the winner of our prize.)

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Here’s some more winter-themed fun: kick off the new year by celebrating Snowy Day Month. You’ll find a flurry of free activities to use with Ezra Jack Keats’ The Snowy Day throughout January! This Caldecott Medal winner is a simple tale of a young boy’s experience in the season’s first snowfall. For Snowy Day Month, get free games, lesson plans, a video of the book, and more. Click here now to see it all!

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You know your students will have an occasional “oops” moment this year. Everyone has one. Turn those accidents into teaching moments with Celebrate Oops! Based on the message in Beautiful Oops!, this initiative is designed to build confidence—it’s okay to make mistakes—and foster creativity. Download a free educator’s guide and get free classroom materials, including a poster and stickers. Click here to learn more!

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Preschool and kindergarten teachers, you’ve probably heard about the more than 5,000 online educational games, books, printables, and more at ABCmouse.com. And you probably know that they’re absolutely free for public schools, private schools, and head start programs. Here’s something you may not know: ABCmouse.com lets you create customized lessons for students, track progress of individual students by academic level and by subject, and record any ABCmouse.com book in your own voice! And teachers, you read that right—it’s all free! Click here now to check it out!

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Finally, before the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve, make sure you’ve entered for a chance to win a $200 Amazon gift card along with $200 in PURELL products for you and $200 in PURELL products for a charity of your choice. Five runners-up will each win a PURELL prize pack valued at over $100. You’ll also get free teaching resources to help you take the 30-Day Classroom Challenge to teach your students the value of good hand hygiene. (Who doesn’t want to start the new year with less student absences due to colds and flu?) Go to TheMailbox.com/30daychallenge by the December 31 deadline!

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Don’t forget to post a comment to tell me which of these are your favorites for a chance to win the three books!

The Beautiful Oops is a wonderful way to remind children that there are no mistakes in art. My kindergarten student once showed me “her” beautiful picture. I asked her if she did it or her mom, I saw her mom make it in class. She said my mom because I can’t do it. I was heartbroken for her.

Beautiful Oops was my favorite on the blog this month. I can think of several ways I can use this book and its guide in lessons for next month. Great concept. I also liked the information from ABCMouse regarding recording books in your own voice. My students will love that. As for Snowy Day, it’s great to read about a new way to incorporate the story into my lessons. It is a must read for this time of year.

Polar Bear Morning looks like a great book I am always looking for a cute winter book that can take me from January to February. First you have the them of polar bears great for science and Social Studies for locating where polar bears live and their habitat followed by a little global warming. Through in a story about friendship and this story can take you from January till mid February.

Polar Bear Morning sounds like a book any student would love to listen to. It tells about true friendship. The importance of how a friend is to treat one another. This is a great opportunity for my students to learn about Polar Bears during science. While we learn about habituate. This is a great book for January into February. With the cold weather and Valentine’s Day

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AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: KIM BRUGGER

Kimberly Brugger is a former early childhood teacher and managing editor of The Mailbox® Preschool magazine. As such, she can often be found in her office humming “The Farmer in the Dell” while slinging fingerpaint with crazy enthusiasm.